Metered Access

Crain's Detroit Business is a metered site. Print and digital subscribers have unlimited access to stories, but registered users are limited to eight stories every 30 days. After viewing three metered stories, you'll be asked to register or log in. After eight more stories in 30 days, you'll be asked to subscribe.

DDA approves contract to study changes to I-375

Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority on Wednesday approved a $373,000 planning contract to develop alternatives to the current configuration of the 1-mile Interstate 375 expressway from Gratiot Avenue to Atwater Street.

The contract represents the latest development in a suggestion floated earlier this year by the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy that I-375 be changed from a below-grade commuter highway to a scenic surface street aimed at aiding nearby businesses, improving pedestrian walkability and boosting economic development.

The DDA voted Wednesday to hire Detroit-based ParsonsBrinckerhoffMichigan Inc., a traffic and planning consultant, according to documents it provided today.

Parsons Brinckerhoff will use the Detroit architectural firm SmithGroupJJR as a subcontractor.

The freeway corridor connects I-75 to downtown. The MichiganDepartment of Transportation and other sources will pay for the $373,000 study.

Those other funding sources identified in the DDA contracts include the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Kresge Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, General Motors Co. and Ford Field.

They will provide an undisclosed amount of the money to the city’s nonprofit Detroit Economic Growth Association, which will be transferred to the DDA (which was required to approve a transfer deal on Wednesday).

Parsons Brinckerhoff, which has done a variety of work for the city over many years, is being hired to provide traffic analysis and modeling in the I-375 corridor. It also will develop five roadway alternatives and an economic impact analysis, and will manage public engagement, according to the contract.

The firm also is being asked to think up ways to finance the project. The city is bankrupt, and MDOT said it has no money to spend on an I-375 redesign.

Project backers have suggested private money could be an option to pay for construction, possibly exchanging frontage along the boulevard in return for cash.

The roadway, which opened in 1964 at a cost of $50 million, is owned by MDOT. Because it’s part of the federal highway system, the Federal Highway Administration would have to grant permission to do the project.

Nearly 80,000 vehicles use I-375 daily, the state said. The freeway is a main east-side link to I-96, the Lodge Freeway and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.

The DDA issued a request for proposals from consultants on Oct. 24.

A technical team comprising staffers from the DDA, Detroit city government, the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, Michigan Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments regional planning organization will provide opinions on the technical information submitted by the consultant.

Early cost estimates say the effort to raise the four-lane freeway, which is about 20 feet deep, and transform it into a boulevard will cost about $80 million, which is the same amount that MDOT believes will be needed in coming years for I-375 maintenance and repairs.

In early November the DDA said it was expecting a final report on the project by July. Along the way, in addition to the consultant's study, there will be stakeholder and community outreach meetings, an economic impact analysis and other benchmarks.

A technical team comprised of staffers from the DDA, Detroit city government, the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, MDOT, Federal Highway Administration and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments regional planning organization will provide opinions on the technical information submitted in the study.

The consultant also is being asked to consider any alternatives to the freeway-to-boulevard idea for the corridor.

If the study concludes the idea should not proceed, the state could begin making needed repairs to the corridor and its overpasses, which the state says are in poor condition.

Companies, entertainment destinations and other organizations in the footprint of the area under review are being consulted on the proposal and RFP.

I-375 is one of many roads the state knows needs to be repaired, but it does not have the budget to complete all of them. Gov. Rick Snyder and MDOT Director Kirk Steudle say the state needs about $1.2 billion more annually to keep 90 percent of the roads in fair condition. The Legislature has not committed to such a plan because of the amount in taxes or fees that would need to be raised.

Major traffic generators for I-375 include Greektown Casino-Hotel, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the sports stadiums, theaters, the riverfront and the Renaissance Center, and other downtown office buildings.